- Do YOU have a story?
asserted
YOU → have → story
This is the trans refugee who runs a LGBTQ group accused of helping dozens of asylum seekers lie their way into Britain by pretending to be gay.
asserted
dozens → run → Britain
Sajjad Miah, 42, was granted asylum on the grounds of sexuality in 2013 saying she feared persecution in her native Bangladesh.
asserted
she → grant → Bangladesh
Ms Miah arrived in Britain as a 26-year-old young man but is now a trans woman and founded the east London-based charity Apanjon soon after winning asylum herself.
asserted
Miah → arrive → asylum
But this week she was arrested on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, with Home Office officers raiding her home to seize phones, jewellery and thousands of pounds in cash.
asserted
officers → arrest → cash
Home Office sources claimed Apanjon had been charging straight men as much as £4,500 each to create fake evidence that they were gay.
asserted
they → claim → evidence
This could include fake photographs or letters to corroborate their same-sex attraction – and allow them to argue that they would be subject to persecution for their sexuality if forced to return to their home country – usually Bangladesh.
uncertain
they → include → country
The Home Office is reviewing more than 100 potentially fraudulent applications past and present linked to the group from those seeking sanctuary, under the umbrella of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), from homosexual persecution in their homeland.
asserted
Office → review → homeland
Ms Miah is understood to have begun her asylum claim as a gay man before beginning her transition to a woman.
uncertain
Miah → understand → woman
Sajjad Miah arrived in Britain as a man but is now a trans woman - and in 2013 was granted asylum on the grounds of sexuality, saying she would be persecuted in her native Bangladesh
After being granted right to remain in Britain, Ms Miah, 42, founded the east London based charity Apanjon to, she says, help asylum seekers like her using her experience
Ms Miah runs the organisation she founded from this shabby office in east London, which was raided this week by police who arrested her and two more people associated with Apanjon
She was arrested this week in early morning raids by Immigration Enforcement officers wearing riot helmets and stab vests on her London home.
asserted
She → arrive → home
She was held along with a second suspect believed to be linked to Apanjon, also on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences.
asserted
She → hold → offences
A third person was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
asserted
person → arrest → country
Officers also targeted Vine Court Businesses – the shabby 'business centre' down a side street in Whitechapel that was, until this week, Apanjon's head office.
asserted
that → target → week
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail after her release on bail, she said: 'They arrested me at my house in the morning and took me to the police station for questioning.'
asserted
They → speak → questioning
Ms Miah however insisted the organisation that she founded is genuine and that they are being targeted unfairly.
asserted
they → insist → that
After coming to the UK, I was eventually given asylum and then I started my organisation to help other people in the same situation as me,' she said.
asserted
she → come → me
'We only give letters of support to LGBT people once we have observed them for six months and ensure that they are not lying about their sexuality.
asserted
they → give → sexuality
'We are a genuine organisation trying to help LGBT Bangladeshi people.
asserted
We → try → people
There is no evidence for what they are accusing us of.
asserted
they → be → us
We only support those who are genuinely LGBT.
asserted
who → support → those
We have not provided any false documentation, but they asked me if I was taking money for this.
asserted
I → provide → this
During the interview they questioned our credibility and said that even some immigration judges don't believe us.
asserted
judges → question → us
But we are being victimised.
asserted
we → victimise → ?
We are being unfairly treated and all these allegations are incorrect'
asserted
allegations → treat → ?
Asked about cash and valuables seized during the raid, she went on: 'The money was for my rent, and the jewellery belonged to my sister.'
asserted
jewellery → ask → sister
Ms Miah said that she had eventually been released without charge although warned that she may have to return for questioning.
uncertain
she → say → questioning
She revealed that she has also received death threats after details of the raid were reported in the media – but that they had come from the Bangladeshi community rather than opponents of liberal immigration policies.
asserted
they → reveal → policies
She said: 'People have been threatening to kill me saying that I'm spreading un-Islamic behaviour and ruining their culture.
asserted
I → say → culture
I'm too afraid to go home and am not even staying there now.
asserted
I → go → ?
I don't know why the Home Office is saying all these wrong things about us.'
asserted
Office → know → us
Ms Miah's Apanjon community group claims to 'campaign for equality and justice for LGBT community people in Bangladesh'.
uncertain
group → claim → Bangladesh
It operates from the first floor of the ramshackle business centre made up of a number of independent firms including a courier company; a money exchange company; a recruitment firm and a solicitors.
asserted
It → operate → company
Down a side street, it is directly behind the East London Mosque, one of the largest in the capital and in the centre of Britain's largest Bangladeshi community, which is predominantly Muslim and does not accept LGBT relationships.
asserted
which → accept → relationships
Ms Miah is understood to have begun her asylum claim as a gay man before beginning her transition to a woman.
uncertain
Miah → understand → woman
She is accused of helping straight asylum seekers to pretend to be gay
asserted
seekers → accuse → ?
The organisation provides 'evidence packages', costing thousands of pounds, it is alleged, included fake documents and letters of support along with staged photographs, many taken at the same gay bars and clubs.
asserted
it → provide → bars
Often Bangladeshi men only claimed to be gay after initially being refused asylum on political grounds, the Home Office said.
asserted
Office → claim → grounds
Apanjon then would vouch for those men on the basis they were gay only after their application had been rejected, it is claimed.
asserted
it → vouch → basis
In one case, a man did not raise his sexuality until nine years after his original asylum application.
asserted
man → raise → application
It also emerged that immigration judges have previously criticised evidence from Apanjon as unreliable or not credible and found that an applicant who claimed to have attended the group's events had submitted staged photographs.
asserted
who → emerge → photographs
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
